seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
1 John 2:12 I am writing to you, dear children,
because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
13 I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.
because your sins have been forgiven on account of his name.
13 I am writing to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I am writing to you, young men,
because you have overcome the evil one.
14 I write to you, dear children,
because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God lives in you,
and you have overcome the evil one
because you know the Father.
I write to you, fathers,
because you know him who is from the beginning.
I write to you, young men,
because you are strong,
and the word of God lives in you,
and you have overcome the evil one
Verse 13 has a life saving commentary.... this is from the easy English site.
The person who existed even before time is the Lord Jesus. He was with God. He was God before the world existed. These whom John calls ‘fathers’ know the Lord Jesus. All Christians know him and God the Father. But these people whom John calls ‘fathers’ have a deeper knowledge of the Lord. They are mature Christians who really know the Lord.
The young people are not as mature in faith as the fathers. But they know what they believe. They have refused to believe the false teachers. They obey the word of God, and they depend on his power. So they are able to defeat the devil when he tries to make them sin.
The commentary made a big deal out of including women in John's "children, young men, and fathers". Fathers became fathers and mothers in the commentary I won't add them to my #metoo complaints for leaving women out of this because John left women out.
John was raised to think of women as second class. In his time... women were "helpers" made from the rib of Adam.... not quite human males.... but human enough to procreate. It's not John's fault that women were second class....with the slaves.... it's the way things were back then.
The people who will read this letter are men. There were a few women in the church.... they could even be teachers when there weren't enough men in the church... but they couldn't be preachers and they couldn't be deacons.... a slave could be a deacon.... but not a woman.
There are apparently three phases of life for the men in these verses.
- The children..... can be the newbies or the whole group depending on which noun was used.
- The young men.... these are Believers who have some understanding but have a lot of learning to do.
- The fathers.... well John would be a father because he was a personal friend of Jesus.... or Timothy... who was a Believer who was raised in the church
Back in the days of John.... a twelve year old could begin procreation..... because that's what they did. That's not the type of "father" I am talking about here.... I'm talking bout a mature Christian. Physical age and physical experience doesn't mean a thing in this scenario.
So... what John's saying is.... people who have chosen to Believe.... will learn more every day about being a Christian. As we learn about being more Christ Like... we mature spiritually. As we mature spiritually.... we will share the faith with others.... and bring them up in our path.
Back when I was growing up..... in the 50's.... it was a big deal for the "good father" to play catch with the "good son". The son didn't catch the ball the first few times it was thrown to him.... he didn't know the mechanics yet... but they hung in there... and soon the good son would learn and then the good son would grow up and become a good father who would play catch with his son.... and on and on the "perfect father and young man" would go..... or so we were taught in the 50's.
That's kind of the way John would have described it..... the "fathers" teaching faith to the "young men" while the "children" sat on the side lines learning from the "fathers" and "young men".
All this poetic rhetoric comes down to practice...... In order to grow in Christ..... we have to practice it. The "fathers" have to keep throwing the ball to the "men" who will become more familiar with the mechanics and start to catch it well enough to teach others..... and on and on....
John's not around anymore.... but his Gospel and his letters and his Revelations are.... and he's being a "good father" by sharing them with us.
Will we continue to grow? It's not so hard.... Just stay in the Word!
